As America's Waistline Expands, Obesity Costs Soar

A recent Reuters' article notes that Americans are getting fatter while health care costs are skyrocketing. What the article fails to mention are some of the clear reasons why this is occurring. Policy makers seem to be left scratching their heads pondering what they should do about it.

"As committee chairmen, Cabinet secretaries, the head of Medicare and health officials see these really high costs, they are more interested in knowing, 'what policy knob can I turn to stop this hemorrhage?'" said Michael O'Grady of the National Opinion Research Center..."

"...The U.S. health care reform law of 2010 allows employers to charge obese workers 30%to 50% more for health insurance if they decline to participate in a qualified wellness program. The law also includes carrots and celery sticks, so to speak, to persuade Medicare and Medicaid enrollees to see a primary care physician about losing weight, and funds community demonstration programs for weight loss."

The insanity of this all knows no bounds. "What policy knob?" — You mean you still have some knobs left to turn that you haven't turned already?

I was unaware that employers were to impose higher health care premiums based on a person's body weight. Just ask yourself, why are employers even involved in what health care plans their employees chose? What the hell is going on here? Do employers manage what kind of auto insurance you buy or what kind of home owners policy you have? Why are they involved with your health care at all?

Obviously the American state has completely turned the insurance market into a gigantic criminal enterprise, governed by more regulations and more subsidies than any other industry. Customers are not even allowed to pick and chose policy options across state lines. Is it any wonder why health care costs are skyrocketing while people are getting fatter when the state subsidizes agriculture to the tune of $260 billion a year, has 43 million people on its food stamp rolls, and spends $753.8 billion a year on health subsidies? In essence, the state is paying corporate food processors to make you fat, while at the same time paying additional costs to keep you alive after it fattens you up.

If you step back and look at the whole thing, it is enough to make you cry. I feel like I'm living in a global lunatic asylum and I'm the only sane person in existence. The crazy people think you are crazy when you point out the insanity of it all!

Let us not forget, I haven't even touched on the fact that the state is bankrupt, in addition to Medicare and Social Security being completely insolvent! It would be one thing to have this problem if the U.S. still produced goods of trade value, but to have this problem now, given the explosion in public debt caused by the Fed's housing crisis, is nothing short of catastrophic. The U.S. public will find out that the great fiction of everyone being able to live at the expense of everyone else is going to come to an end. The question is, will the public do it the easy way or the hard way?

Michael Suede is an Austrian economist and author who holds a business degree from the University of Wisconsin. Michael's articles have appeared in numerous economics publications. Michael is also one of the few economists who is well versed in the economics of voluntary crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin.
Michael is a veteran of the US Navy and an advocate of voluntarism.
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